MPU-401 is the DB header. The other setting uses the Vortex MIDI synth.

Might want to check in Multimedia settings to make sure that the correct MIDI device is chosen there as well.

This is how a DB mounts on a MX300.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons … amond_MX300.jpg

Whoops, I mean how should it mount on the SQ2500, I think it should be the JP1 header located by the PCI bus pins. http://www.firingsquad.com/media/article_image.asp/313/a

Ok, I checked the Multimedia and selected the MPU-401 as well, I cannot get any sound for the Music to play, waveblaster, soundblaster, awe32, general midi... no music. Did check the sndvol32 and MPU-401 is not muted and set to max output.

Line up pin 1.

RogueTrip2012 wrote:

Whoops, I mean how should it mount on the SQ2500, I think it should be the JP1 header located by the PCI bus pins. http://www.firingsquad.com/media/article_image.asp/313/a

That's correct.

swaaye wrote:

MPU-401 is the DB header. The other setting uses the Vortex MIDI synth.

Must say I thought wavetable selected the daughterboard and mpu401 the external port. 🤣 Otherwise I have the same problem as the OP...

Also I have the aureal vortex driver cd, it contains no manual though.

Wavetable is usually the synth that comes with the card.

MPU401 is an interface, and usually attached to both, the DB and the external port. If you attach both, you should get music from both devices (DB and external MIDI device).

I guess my logic was that the onboard vortex2 synth is called wavetable, and the db is a wavetable card ... so wavetable means use db if present, otherwise the inbuilt synth. That's inference based on what seems to happen. It doesn't seem to be like an ews64xl where you have 3 or 4 synths selectable for midi [where you can use db, external, ews wavetable or fm synth iirc].

Easy test would be to play vchile.mid [available on the web] using wavetable with an xg db attached, sounds great on xg but awful on non-xg synths.

Things can get confusing when everyone uses different terms 🤣

Wavetable is short for Wavetable synthesis, just like there is Linear Arithmetic synthesis (MT-32).

Wavetable was a fancy catchword and companies like Creative and Gravis raped that word. In fact their cards have little to do with that technology. They uses PCM samples as basis.

Creative for example uses terms such as WaveSynth and MIDI in their mixer application, but later call sit MIDISynth.

Easy rule is that MPU401 is at address 330 and usually talks to devices hooked up to the MIDI connector (joystick port) and to the DB connector (which many call wavetable connector).

The internal synth (let's call it that way) sits on a different address, like 620 and is usually propriety. MPU401 on the other hand is a standard anyone can use and build devices for.

Now some cards, can emulate a virtual MPU401 port (e.g. AWE64) and send the MIDI commands to the internal synth, in order to support legacy DOS games.

In the 90s it was very very expensive to put memory on SoundCards. Therefore companies made a big deal out of that fact and plastered Wavetable all over the box and manual and ads.

Customers saw this and went ZOMG I don't have to buy a Roland MIDI module if I buy this card!

The "wavetable" term was apparently used incorrectly back then. I think our little fun DOS cards tend to be more simplistic than wavetable lets on.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wavetable_synthesis

MPU-401 is a Roland interface. That's why nobody else really wanted to support it directly in their hardware. Supporting a competitor and all...

Yeah, I confused myself here, had the external wavetable volume muted [again]. Bah, getting too old for this.

Even worse, I saw a site mentioning vortex2 drivers that gave EAX support, so like a fool I got hold of the files and installed them. Wow, quake 3 now can have A3D selected. Unfortunately Diablo 2, which did have A3D, now has neither A3D nor EAX supported. So, I uninstalled the drivers and now NONE of the vortex 2 or mx300 drivers will install, including the ones I had installed yesterday. Grrr, such a sink of time these systems.

ratfink wrote:

Grrr, such a sink of time these systems.

Hehe so true...

ratfink wrote:

Yeah, I confused myself here, had the external wavetable volume muted [again]. Bah, getting too old for this.

Even worse, I saw a site mentioning vortex2 drivers that gave EAX support, so like a fool I got hold of the files and installed them. Wow, quake 3 now can have A3D selected. Unfortunately Diablo 2, which did have A3D, now has neither A3D nor EAX supported. So, I uninstalled the drivers and now NONE of the vortex 2 or mx300 drivers will install, including the ones I had installed yesterday. Grrr, such a sink of time these systems.

Have you tried removing the Aureal drivers with Driver Cleaner 2.7, reboot and install originals?

Still haven't figured my issue out though but haven't tried the midi file posted above yet.

First I tossed my MX300 back in with the XR385 card and installed drivers again.

Testing further tonight I find that if I set Multimedia to MPU-401 and A3D DOS Box out to AU8830 Midi Wavetable then GM and WAVEBLASTER work for music. If Both to MPU-401 I have no music other than SoundBlaster setting.

I did try messing with the AU30DOS.INI file in windows folder. I set the External MPU-401 to 1 (enabled) and DMA 1, save the file and set to read-only (windows seems to turn back to default at startup). Now startup will show that the external device is enabled. Tried setting up duke in DOS and not windows. Once I did that I got a straight freeze as soon as the game started. I haven't messed with it more yet in pure dos.

Anyone else have duke working with both MPU-401 settings? If so whats your secret?!

The wavetable does sound great but to me sounds exactly like my AWE64 using waveblaster settings, maybe a touch better. 🤣, still a good thing though I guess.

RogueTrip2012 wrote:

Have you tried removing the Aureal drivers with Driver Cleaner 2.7, reboot and install originals?

Didn't try that but I have solved my problem and got my release 102 diamond monster drivers installed again. I think it came down to putting the drivers into a low enough level folder to look like they were on a cd, as once I did this the install seemed to work [in fact the hd partition got a monster sound cd icon and auto-played too]. I saw something about reoving a semicolon from the au30mult.inf file [or something similar] but that certainly did nothing to fix my problem.

Also installed the 312 a3d driver, but I don't see any sign of eax. In q3 I can select a3d but the setting doesn't save. In diablo2 I can have 3d effects [=a3d I understand] but not environmental [=eax]. Think I'll experiment with another box from now on, i have one with a superquad in.

ratfink wrote:

RogueTrip2012 wrote:

Have you tried removing the Aureal drivers with Driver Cleaner 2.7, reboot and install originals?

Didn't try that but I have solved my problem and got my release 102 diamond monster drivers installed again. I think it came down to putting the drivers into a low enough level folder to look like they were on a cd, as once I did this the install seemed to work [in fact the hd partition got a monster sound cd icon and auto-played too]. I saw something about reoving a semicolon from the au30mult.inf file [or something similar] but that certainly did nothing to fix my problem.

Also installed the 312 a3d driver, but I don't see any sign of eax. In q3 I can select a3d but the setting doesn't save. In diablo2 I can have 3d effects [=a3d I understand] but not environmental [=eax]. Think I'll experiment with another box from now on, i have one with a superquad in.

Do you have a ISO of the diamond cd? Also looks like you have the newest diamond drivers, wanna upload that stuff? 😀 I've been stuck with the 2.048 driver and A3D 3.12 installed so far.

So all these youtube video's I see about the DB50XG and MX300 make me wonder if they are using it properly as with everyone else.

I think either my card is bad or else that no one is using there stuff properly since no on has more information on making it work proper. For duke nukem 3d MPU-401 only works with Soundblaster used for FX and music and doesn't sound so good, I'm gonna try and remove the card and test these settings, I shouldn't get sound then if it is routed to the DB correct?

Did try the Vchile.mid listed above. It works with Wavetable selected but nothing when selecting MPU-401 again. How about you Ratfink? Will Vchile.mid work for you when selecting MPU-401 using basic windows media player? I even tried some XG files without the DB card and sounds just fine to me!! My volume control is unmuted and full along with wavetable. I'm quite stumped at how this DB card should work!

I looked for my CD - I know I have it here somewhere, but I can't find it. In lieu I just uploaded the contents of my MX-300 folder here on the off-chance there might be something useful there.

This is a really interesting topic. I was in the attic of doom yesterday, and as I was looking for something, I nearly stepped on an Aureal Vortex 2 card. Today, I grabbed it and put a Yamaha XG DB on it, and installed it inside Win98 using swaaye's uploaded reference driver package. Thanks a lot swaaye! I also downloaded vchile.mid file, found on the net. I used Goldwave to record it, and this recording can be downloaded here.

Does it sound right, in terms of it using the correct hardware, ie the DB? I'm not sure why it sounds distorted, however. When I listen to the .mid file being played, it sounds OK. Also, the recording level isn't set too high, because I can't see any "clipping" on the Goldwave recording "squiggly data recording graphic thing". That's a technical term, BTW. 😉

Just pull the DB off while it's playing. Then you know which synth is playing!

Inside the Windows 98 sound level control panel, I set everything to mute & zero volume level, except for the master volume level and also the MPU-401 volume meter level, which was not set to mute, and also its volume slider was about 3/4ers of the way up. Inside the Win98 control panel -> Multimedia area -> I set the MIDI tab area to MPU-401, and finally inside the Vortex control panel, I set the "Windows DOS box" thing to MPU-401.

So, everything that I can think of is set up for MPU-401, rather than anything called "wavetable", etc. That should do it. BTW, why are MIDI daughterboards called wavetable daughterboards? Should they be called MPU-401 daughterboards instead?

If anyone wants to know anything about the settings on this test rig that I'm working on, then please ask. I'll leave it all as it is for today.

retro games 100 wrote:

Does it sound right, in terms of it using the correct hardware, ie the DB?

Sounds right to me 😁.